US imposes sanctions on several Russian IT companies: Who’s on list
Illustrative photo: the new sanctions target Russian IT firms (Getty Images)
The United States imposed sanctions on November 19 against a number of Russian IT companies and several Russians who may be involved in cyberattacks. Several IT companies from other countries were also subjected to restrictions, according to the website of the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
It is noted that the basis for imposing the new restrictions on Russian companies and associated individuals and organizations were regulatory actions related to sanctions concerning Ukraine and Russia, as well as the CAATSA law. The goal is to stop cyberattacks and attempts by Russians to bypass existing sanctions.
The sanctions target the assets of the specified companies and individuals under US jurisdiction. Any transactions with these entities are prohibited under the threat of secondary sanctions. The companies subject to the restrictions are:
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MEDIA LAND, LLC (Russia)
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ML.CLOUD, DC (Russia)
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KIRISHI LLC (Russia)
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MEDIA LAND TECHNOLOGY LLC (Russia)
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DATAVICE MCHJ (Uzbekistan)
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HYPERCORE LTD (United Kingdom)
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SMART DIGITAL IDEAS DOO CYBER4 (Serbia).
In addition, a number of Russian citizens associated with these companies were also targeted by the sanctions:
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Maksim Makarov
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Yulia Pankova
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Aleksandr Volosovik (better known as Ohyeahhellno)
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Ilya Zakirov
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Kirill Zatolokin (better known as downlow).
Notably, a major cyberattack investigation recently began in the United Kingdom. As a result of this cyberattack, hackers gained access to classified data from eight military bases.
Earlier, we reported on a cyberattack that disrupted operations at several European airports, affecting airports in London, Brussels, and Berlin.
In December 2024, Russian hackers also targeted the state registries of Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice. This was one of the largest cyberattacks since the start of the full-scale war, and restoring the affected registries took a very long time.